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Elena Alvarez is the daughter of Penelope and Victor. Penelope describes Elena as someone who "always stands up for herself." Lydia thinks her political concerns and crusades are annoying. She's captain of the debate team and she has a love for social studies. She is shown as a quirky teen who is still finding herself. She does not have many friends but her best friend Carmen is a huge part of her life.

In Strays, Penelope suggests that Elena doesn't have any friends outside of the internet. Though it's an ongoing joke in the first half of season one, Elena expresses the possibility of liking girls in Hold, Please. She officially comes out as gay in Sex Talk. All of her family accepts her sexuality except for her father, Victor. He walked out on her during her quincenera when the father-daughter dance was starting. She is currently dating Syd.

She has a very loving relationship with her family, Penelope Alvarez and Alex Alvarez, and although she loves her grandmother, Lydia Riera, there is some level of disagreement due to different beliefs. She is portrayed as not knowing Spanish,and arguing frequently with her Abuela. Although her relationship with her father, Victor Alvarez, is unknown prior to the series, it was likely that they were close and loving, when she came out as gay, this caused a strain in their relationship until Victor eventually learned from Alex to accept and love her, apologising for the pain he caused her. She is reluctant, but accepts his apology.

Elena is a young Latina (Latinx) female. She has long black hair that goes to past her neck, and is usually wearing glasses and casual clothing. She is 5'3 and has a slim build. She has paler skin than her brother that has been described as "wonder bread". She is nicknamed Blanquita, and descoveres people think she is Caucasian in The Turn.

She is the only member of her family who didn't speak Spanish, only knowing English, until she later asked Lydia Riera, her grandmother, to teach her, and so she became bilingual.

She is the first LGBT+ character to come out on the on the show that is not an adult.

When she came out as a lesbian to her father in Quinces, he rejected her, telling her it wasn't who she was which caused her to realise that people would hate her just because she's gay, before knowing anything else about her.

It is highly likely that Penelope Alvarez fears for Elena's safety as a lesbian teenager, stating that her house is "the last place that should have a gun", noting that they had two teenagers in the house and mentioning Elena's sexuality, pointing to the risk of suicide amongst LGBT+ youth.

According to Penelope Alvarez, if she got "bent out of shape" every time a man said something stupid, Elena would've never been born.

She is a teenaged activist, participating in marches and political events.